Multicultural Education Goals

8/13/2019 Multicultural Education Goals

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Multicultural Education

Multicultural education promotes critical analyses of our society and its institutions. Students develop

critical thinking skills in schools and classrooms where they are free to ask questions and examinecourse content, the media, popular culture and themselves for biases. The defining characteristic of a

multicultural school is not the demographic makeup of the student body, but the willingness to ask,"ho!s voice is not being heard hy wasn!t it included" and, "#ow can this be changed"

$ne of the goals of multicultural education is to acknowledge the experiences and perspectives ofoppressed groups that are commonly excluded from mainstream academia %eg. racial, ethnic, class,

gender, etc.&. To accomplish this, the traditional estern canon used in shaping the curriculum must be

reformulated and transformed to teach "a more truthful, complex and diverse version of the est" in

schools. %'anks, ())*, p. *& +ather than excluding traditional estern perspectives andaccomplishments, multicultural education seeks to incorporate those of people of color and women

into the canon. t celebrates the pluralism of our society while helping students to understand thecommon traditions and heritage that unite us.

ithin multicultural education, the organi-ation and practices of a school recogni-e and accommodate

all students and families. Teaching methods are altered according to the learning styles of students.anguage differences are respected and parents are included in school planning and events. The

grouping practices of the school are revised to allow all students to participate and excel in challenging

courses.

Multicultural education aims to eliminate pre/udice, racism and all forms of oppression. To do this, "it

is imperative that multicultural educators give voice and substance to struggles against oppression and

develop the vision and the power of our future citi-ens to forge a more /ust society." %Sleeter, ())(, p.00& Multicultural education addresses issues of white privilege, challenges the status quo, and compels

students and teachers to identify their own biases. t increases awareness and understanding of racism,

how it has shaped our society in the past and the manifestations of racism, classism and oppression inthe contemporary world.

The Dimensions of Multicultural Education have identified five dimensions of multicultural education. They are1 content integration, the

knowledge construction process, pre/udice reduction, an equity pedagogy, and an empowering school

culture and social structure %'anks, ())2a&. 3lthough the five dimensions of multicultural education

are highly interrelated, each requires deliberate attention and focus.

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1. Content integration deals with the extent to which teachers use examples and content from avariety of cultures and groups to illustrate key concepts, generali-ations, and issues within their sub/ect

areas or disciplines.

2. The knowledge construction process describes how teachers help students to understand,investigate, and determine how the biases, frames of reference, and perspectives within a discipline

influence the ways in which knowledge is constructed within it %'anks, ())4&. Students also learn how

to build knowledge themselves in this dimension.

3. Prejudice reduction describes lessons and activities used by teachers to help students to develop positive attitudes toward different racial, ethnic, and cultural groups. +esearch indicates that children

come to school with many negative attitudes toward and misconceptions about different racial and

ethnic groups %5hinney 6 +otheram, ()78&. +esearch also indicates that lessons, units, and teaching

materials that include content about different racial and ethnic groups can help students to developmore positive intergroup attitudes if certain conditions exist in the teaching situation %'anks, ())2b&.

These conditions include positive images of the ethnic groups in the materials and the use ofmultiethnic materials in a consistent and sequential way.

. 3n e!uit" pedagog" exists when teachers modify their teaching in ways that will facilitate the

academic achievement of students from diverse racial, cultural, and social9class groups %'anks 6

'anks, ())2&. +esearch indicates that the academic achievement of 3frican 3merican and Mexican3merican students is increased when cooperative teaching activities and strategies, rather than

competitive ones, are used in instruction %3ronson 6 :on-ale-, ()77&. ;ooperative learning activities

also help all students, including middle9class hite students, to develop more positive racial attitudes.#owever, to attain these positive outcomes, cooperative learning activities must have several important

characteristics %3llport, ()2*&. The students from different racial and ethnic groups must feel that theyhave equal status in intergroup interactions, teachers and administrators must value and support cross9racial interactions, and students from different racial groups must work together in teams to pursue

common goals.

#. 3n empowering school culture and social structure is created when the culture and organi-ationof the school are transformed in ways that enable students from diverse racial, ethnic, and gender

groups to experience equality and equal status. The implementation of this dimension requires that the

total environment of the school be reformed, including the attitudes, beliefs, and action of teachers and

empowering

school cultureand socialstructure

an equitypedagogy

the knowledgeconstruction

process

prejudicereduction

contentintegration


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administrators, the curriculum and course of study, assessment and testing procedures, and the styles

and strategies used by teachers.

To implement multicultural education effectively, teachers and administrators must attend to each of

the five dimensions of multicultural education described above. They should use content from diverse

groups when teaching concepts and skills, help students to understand how knowledge in the various

disciplines is constructed, help students to develop positive intergroup attitudes and behaviors, andmodify their teaching strategies so that students from different racial, cultural, and social9class groups

will experience equal educational opportunities. The total environment and culture of the school mustalso be transformed so that students from diverse ethnic and cultural groups will experience equal

status in the culture and life of the school.

Excerpt from Atwater, 2001. Science Education & Black Americans.

3ll students seek acceptance, belonging, success, and en/oyment. ;onsequently, multicultural scienceteachers give their students the opportunity to reason about science, to argue about alternative

explanations for their science results, and to test their ideas and those of others %3twater, ;rockett, 6>ilpatrick, ())4&. Science teacher candidates are more likely to become multicultural teachers if theymake connections between the knowledge about cultures of various groups and its relevance to

effective teaching practices. These teachers learn how to think strategically about1 %(& learners?their

differences and their different needs@ %0& the interactions of 'lack 3merican learners with science, the particular school, and community context@ and %A& ways to engage their learners with important

substantive scientific ideas %$akes, ())4&.

'lack 3mericans are not homogeneous in their thinking and understanding of science@ however, most'lack 3mericans have experienced discrimination %#ill et al., ())A&. Therefore, the way 'lack

3mericans view their opportunity to learn science in a classroom is based on their prior and present

experiences in society and science classes %3twater, ())*@ 3twater, ;rockett, 6 >ilpatrick, ())4&.

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For historically marginalized groups in science (young women, low-income students, and ethnic minorities) additional issues to thinkabout include…

Testing and assessment-does the content appealing-Can all students relate to the

content used in assessments

Peers’, teachers, parents & societalexpectations- !ow do others

e"pectations shape the young women#menin my classroom $re there certain norms

that % am rein&orcing or challenging !owdo my e"pectations as a teacher play outin my interactions with certain students

Curriculum materials- $re therese" stereotypes in thecurriculum !ow do %

acknowledge gender biases inthese materials

History of the domain- 'hatperspecties hae dominated thescience &ield and hae shapedwhat counts as science !owcan % help my students thinkcritically about this

Classroom Interaction & Atmosphere- $re girls called on as &requently $re girlsand boys gien equal wait time !ow can %

keep track o& these patterns $re allstudents being encouraged to take risks

'hen students ask &or help do % encourageall students to think or answer the question

&or some o& them

Gender, ace & !"!"#uity Issues

in !cience

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